Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Bullpen Shuffle

Brian Sabean is starting to make some moves to shore up the worst bullpen in the league. Jeff Fassero has been released, and it looks like it's only a matter of time before Munter and Accardo are sent down. Brian Wilson, who had an impressive performance in Colorodo in his major league debut, is scheduled to come of the DL any day now, and it looks like it will be Accardo who is the odd man out. The Giants dropped Fassero to make room for Noah Lowry who came off the DL and pitched a beauty on Monday night vs. the Astros. Lowry essentially made his '06 debut and was very impressive. The Giants really need Lowry to be that consistant, number 2 type pitcher. They haven't gotten what they've expected out of Matt Cain yet and Matt Morris started out on fire, but has cooled over his last few starts. The same can be said about Jamie Wright, although he has been the Giants most consistant starter so far. As I said last post, Lowry will give this team a shot in the arm and it won't just help out the Giants starting pitching. Currently, Jason Schmidt is dominating the Cubbies and it looks like he should win his 2nd start in a row. Again, Schmidt is doing it with control as he again has no walks through seven innings.

I am glad Sabean has recognized the bullpen deficiencies and has started to act upon it. I have no problem giving youngsters a shot at this point in the season. Brian Wilson looks solid, but another guy who the Giants have waiting in the wings is left-hander Jonathen Sanchez. Sanchez is 2-1 with a 1.51 era in 8 appearances for AA Connecticut, and with Steve Kline the only lefty in the pen, the Giants may come calling to Sanchez sooner than later. Sabean seems like he isn't fooling around this year and that is evident by the Fassero release. There is nobody in the Giants organazation who could say a bad thing about Fassero, but he flat out wasn't getting the job done. If the bullpen woes continue, the Giants must go out of the organzation for help, and at this point in the season, teams aren't quite ready to deal important arms.

Barry Bonds is still stuck on 713, and came very close to 714 before being robbed by Juan Pierre. Whether your a Bonds fan or not, the man is about to do something special and he should be recognized for it. As you know from reading my posts, I steer clear from all this steriod speculation, but I do have this to say before he passes Ruth. If your going to go after Barry, go after McGuire and Sosa, and investigate every player who played between 1990 and 2004. Even if Barry was dirty the whole time, which hasn't been proved, there is a more than adequate chance, the majority of his opponents where doing the same. I know Barry is going after the greatest record in all of sports, and he is not liked in the media, but unless Barry has affected you directly, sit back and enjoy what he's doing, because we probably won't ever see anything like him again, good or bad.